


Differently the Same: Adrinette April 2020

by seasonofthegeek



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adrinette April 2020, Parallel Universes, but be careful what you wish for, but i'm a sucker for a happy ending, major character deaths (that are fixed pretty quickly in a way), this will start dark, using the ladybug and black cat miraculous to make a wish
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-03
Updated: 2020-04-20
Packaged: 2021-02-28 22:41:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 6,417
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23454952
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/seasonofthegeek/pseuds/seasonofthegeek
Summary: When one dimension's Adrien loses his Marinette in a tragic accident and another dimension's Marinette loses her Adrien to a powerful enemy, both decide to unify the Ladybug and the Black Cat miraculous to wish to have their other halves back. Little do they realize that wishes aren't always granted exactly the way you think.Written for Adrinette April 2020
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Comments: 58
Kudos: 131





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> These are mostly going to be short chapters. I've been having major writer's block so I'm going to try to do as much as I can and leave it at that. :)

**Timeline One**

Adrien stared at the blood on his hands. In the numb nothingness his brain was trying to ease him into, he couldn’t decide if it was brighter red or darker red when there was more of it. It coated his palms and was drying into a tacky mess on his forearms. 

Ladybug is dead. Marinette is...

He blinked rapidly and the voices and sirens going on around him went in and out like a bad radio connection. 

No, this wasn’t right. This wasn’t supposed to happen. It should’ve been him. He was supposed to protect her.

“Kid...Adrien...”

Plagg swam in and out of view as Adrien’s vision blurred. 

“The earrings. I’m sorry, but I’ve got to go get them. Tikki might need help getting away.”

He didn’t respond. He couldn’t. The world had ceased to exist.

His world, at least.

It wasn’t even an akuma. The driver of a city bus had fallen asleep at the wheel and Ladybug was able to use her yo-yo and strength to slow the bus down before anyone was hurt or worse. And that’s when another reckless driver came out of nowhere and hit her when she was trying to keep the large running vehicle anchored in the middle of the road so no more damage could be done. 

Chat Noir had been inside the bus, helping passengers get to the door and get out. He watched it all happen through the back window and knew he was dying right along with her. 

He’d cataclysmed the back of the bus to get out and held her in his arms. He’d watched the light go out of her eyes and at some point his transformation had fallen. He vaguely remembered fighting with someone trying to take her away, an EMT maybe.

A foggy thought was nagging at him but he couldn’t make his brain work enough to see the full picture. There was something he could do. He could save her...he could still save her even now.

How though?

He knew. He knew that he knew, he just had to remember how.

Plagg reappeared with sagging ears and a limp tail. He offered the red earrings to Adrien with a pained expression. “We have to keep these safe.”

The broken pieces of the thought he was chasing fell into place and Adrien looked down at his bloody hand with a dull awareness. “Now they match,” he murmured, running a finger along the red blood drying on the silver of his ring.

“Ah geez, I gotta get you out of here, Kid.” Plagg glanced around. “I know the human thing is to talk to the police but you’re going into shock. Maybe I should hang onto the ring for a little bit?” He trailed off when Adrien’s hand stiffened into a fist. 

A fire lit in his formerly vacant eyes as he stared at the kwami. “I know how I can save her.”  
___

**Dimension Two**

“Marinette, you know you shouldn’t do this!” Tikki zipped after her holder desperately, voice even shriller than usual. “You’re not thinking clearly; there’ll be consequences!”

“I don’t care.” Marinette ran in the direction of the apartment she shared with her husband as the sound of monsters’ screeches and roars filled the night around them. “Look around. How much worse could it get?!”

Her husband was dead. The monsters had gotten to him and she would be damned if she let it stay that way. She would bring him back and then they would go after the biggest monster together, as a team-- the way it was supposed to be. 

She let herself into the building and barricaded the door as she did every night when the sun went down. Most of the tenants had fled the city at this point anyway. They’d been of the few remaining.

Marinette ground her teeth together and took the stairs two at a time up to the third floor and slipped into the apartment. The ache in her heart was worse here but she had a plan now. She’d been avoiding being in their home, instead sleeping at her parents’ abandoned bakery the past few weeks, but now she knew what she had to do and this was where she had to do it.

She would unite the Ladybug and the Black Cat Miraculous and use her one wish to bring Adrien back to life. There was no way it couldn’t work. The powers that be at least owed them this. She’d given most of her time and energy to protecting people and the love of her life had literally given all he had to do the same. 

She would get Adrien back. There was no question.

“Please don’t do this,” Tikki begged in one last ditch attempt as Marinette slid the ring onto her finger and Plagg appeared. 

“I wish you could understand, but I know you don’t.” Marinette gave the kwami pair a sad look. “I can’t keep fighting without him. I just can’t, not after all this time.” She swallowed hard and closed her eyes. 

“And I won’t,” she murmured. “Tikki and Plagg, unify.”


	2. Chapter 2

**In yet another dimension:**

Marinette stared up at the Eiffel Tower in awe. It was something she’d never expected to miss after how many times she’d had to save it as Ladybug, but once the monsters had destroyed it, she’d longed to see it often. The sky was a soft blue decorated with fluffy clouds. A breeze ruffled her short hair and when she inhaled, the air smelled cleaner than she could ever remember it smelling.

“I don’t think this is home,” she murmured, finally tearing her eyes away. “Did something go wrong with the wish, Tikki?” When there was no reply, she spun around, scaring a few bystanders that were mingling around the base of the landmark. “Tikki?! Plagg?!”

Her eyes caught sight of the angry red welt on her finger where the Black Cat Miraculous had been and it began to throb as soon as she saw it. She tenderly touched at her painfully raw earlobes, free of the Ladybug Miraculous. Tears pricked her eyes and she fell to her knees with a sob. Someone tried to talk to her, probably one of the people she’d startled moments before, before she couldn’t focus on the sound of their voice. She couldn’t focus on anything except the painful ringing in her ears until one familiar sound broke through.

“Marinette!”  
___

Realizing he’d lost both Miraculous-- that he’d lost Plagg-- was a shock Adrien hadn’t been prepared for, but he kept pushing forward because he wasn’t sure his sanity would hold if he stopped. It couldn’t be all for vain. It had to have worked. She had to be here somewhere. 

She had to be!

He’d raced to the Dupain-Cheng bakery as soon as he got his bearings and was shocked to find it managed by a young man with a bright green mohawk. Apparently the bakery was one of seven locations around the country and Tom and Sabine ran the flagship one a few hours away. He had no idea if they had a daughter or where she might be. 

Adrien went to the tiny apartment Nino and Alya had just moved into together to find a stranger living there, one who barely cracked open the door and slammed it shut as soon as he asked if she knew of the previous tenant.

This Paris felt alien and unwelcoming and Adrien could feel his mental crash coming. He’d lost his Lady, he’d lost Plagg, and now he’d given up his home. He trudged the familiar route to his house when the Eiffel Tower in the distance caught his attention. 

He’d try one more place. They had more than a few memories there. Maybe, just maybe...

He saw her kneeling on the ground and his heart leapt in his throat. He wasn’t sure how he knew it was her. There was something different about the woman on the ground. Her hair was wrong and her clothes were wrong and Adrien didn’t recognize the man bending down to speak to her, but...

But he knew she was Marinette. He just knew it.

He started running and her name fell from his lips like a plea, “Marinette!”


	3. Chapter 3

“Adrien.” Marinette breathed his name out like a prayer as he dropped to his knees and wrapped his arms around her. “I thought it’d failed. I thought I lost you for good. I can’t find Tikki or Plagg and I...” She trailed off, noticing the place at his neck that she’d instinctively pressed her face against as soon as he’d gotten to her. 

And the very distinct absence of the familiar, puckered, slick, pink scar that ran from just under her husband’s right earlobe along his jawline and down to his collarbone.

She pulled back even more and looked up into Adrien’s younger face and felt her heart sink. “You’re...you’re not him.” She reached up without thought and brushed calloused fingertips against his cheek. “You are, but you’re not.”

Adrien swallowed hard but leaned into her touch. “You’re different too. I made a wish...I might’ve messed up.”

Marinette blinked against her tears and glanced around. “We should find somewhere to go. Do you have a home here? I have a feeling my place isn’t going to be where I left it.”

He frowned but didn’t pull away from her, despite noticing the onlookers eyeing them. “I don’t think this is my world. Things are different. It’s still Paris though...”

“Another dimension maybe?”

He blinked. “You think?”

“I honestly have no idea.” She pushed away from him reluctantly and stood on her own. 

Adrien followed her lead as if it was second nature and easily fell into step with her. “Wait, so you aren’t from here either. Does that mean you used the Miraculous too?” He looked up at the sunny sky and a soft breeze rustled his hair. “If this is some kind of purgatory for misusing them, I gotta admit, I would’ve imagined worse.”

“I came from worse so I’m not sure I trust this.” She looked around warily. “I guess that means we need to figure out somewhere to go so we can talk.” She looked in the direction of the park and Adrien took her hand and squeezed it to get her attention.

“I, uh...if you’re thinking about your parents, they aren’t there,” he said quietly. “That’s the first place I looked for you...or, my Marinette?” He winced. “Sorry.” 

She shrugged and dropped their joined hands. “They’ve been gone for me for a long time,” she replied, only a hint of sadness in her voice giving any emotion to the statement.

“I was going to try my house,” he offered. “Do you want to come with me? I’m not sure what to expect but it’s worth a shot.”

Marinette’s eyes narrowed into dangerous slits. “If Gabriel is there, I’ll kill him,” she vowed, venom dripping from the words.

Adrien took a step back. “I’d have to stop you, Bugaboo.”

She violently flinched as if he’d slapped her before regaining her composure and pushing past him. “Come on. I don’t want to be outside when the sun sets.”


	4. Chapter 4

Adrien frowned at the gate keypad. “It’s different than the one I use.”

“We should find somewhere else to go,” Marinette insisted, looking down the street.

“Wait, let me just see if I can figure it out.” He punched in another sequence of numbers and frowned at the denial. His brow furrowed in determination and he tried again, sticking his tongue out the side of his mouth as he worked.

Marinette watched him and felt her chest tighten. There was no denying he was Adrien Agreste; she believed that with everything in her. His mannerisms were so eerily similar to her Adrien’s that if she didn’t know any better, she’d think the Miraculous wish had simply taken her back in time. She hadn’t come across a mirror yet, but she knew that wasn’t the case. She could feel it in her bones and see it on the scars littering her skin. She was still just shy of thirty-five and the simple silver rings she still wore were proof that she’d had an entire lifetime with her Adrien.

This was not her Adrien, no matter how much she wished he was.

“Okay, so this isn’t going to work, but I’m not giving up hope. Follow me.” Adrien moved to the edge of the large wall and rounded the corner.

The temptation to take off was strong but Adrien popped his head back around the corner with a tentative smile to ask if she was coming and Marinette’s resolve crumbled. She mumbled an affirmative and followed after him. 

They came to a maintenance gate and Adrien reached his long arm over the other side of it to fiddle with a lock. “I think it’s padlocked,” he grumbled, finally retracting his arm. “I’ll get inside and then let you in through the front door.”

“How are you getting inside?”

He shot her a smirk that was both excited and smug and then he was climbing up the fence like an actual cat and vaulting himself over to the other side. She heard him tumble to the ground and a sound that was half laughter and half gasping. 

“Did you survive?” Marinette asked, smiling in spite of herself.

“I did!” he answered. “Meet me around front. I’m going to sneak through the house and see if anyone is here.”

That thought put her on edge again but she did as he asked and went to linger around the front of the gate. Long minutes ticked by and she made note of a police vehicle moving slowly past the house. She’d need to make herself scarce if it happened again. 

She jumped when the gate let out a rusty groan and began to swing inward. Adrien appeared at the front door and came down the stairs. His earlier smile was gone and he seemed to have aged from the time he leapt over the gate to now. 

“The house is empty. Should be fine enough for us to stay here.” He hit a button on the inside of the wall and the gates began a torturous close. “No one’s been here for a really long time.”


	5. Chapter 5

“Hey, uh, do you think we can talk about stuff in the morning?” Adrien scratched tat the back of his neck and tried to force a smile. “It’s just hitting me how exhausted I am.”

Marinette studied him and then let her gaze wander around the large foyer. Sheets were draped over the banisters of the stairs and she could see their footprints in the dust that had gathered on the marble tiles. 

Adrien watched her take everything in and pulled a folded sheet of paper out of his back pocket and offered it to her. “This was on the door. The house was seized by the bank but I guess they couldn’t get anyone else to buy it so it’s just been shuttered up.”

“If this is the current year, it’s way in the future from where I came from,” she commented, lips pursed.

“Yeah, I was thinking that too. Don’t really know what it means though. If this is the future...” He trailed off and shook his head. “The room that should be mine is a big library-office thing so I’m guessing maybe I never existed here. Either that or some major redecorating happened.” His shoulders slumped. “I guess it makes sense. I don’t think you did either if the bakery was any indication.”

“Maybe that’s why we were sent here.” Marinette tentatively reached up to brush his hair out his eyes. “Let’s get some rest and talk in the morning. Maybe things will be better then.”

He nodded and looked up the stairs, reluctantly stepping away from her. “I...wherever you want to sleep is fine. I think I’ll just take the couch in the library.”

Adrien began to trudge up the stairs without another word and Marinette watched him go, worry tugging at her. 

“He’s not yours,” her mind reminded her. “They look the same but they aren’t. He’s a different person.”

At that moment though, he wasn’t a different person to her. She’d seen her Adrien look like that too often and she knew what was going through his head. He’d already disappeared into the library while she stood in the foyer at war with herself.


	6. Chapter 6

Marinette took it upon herself to explore the rest of the house after Adrien closed himself in the library. The large portrait of Emilie Agreste was missing from Gabriel’s office so she looked around for another entrance to Hawk Moth’s lair that existed in her world. No matter where she looked inside though, she couldn’t find a thing.

She quietly let herself out the front door of the house and closed it most of the way so it would look untouched from the street. She rounded the opposite side of that house from the gate Adrien had hopped and looked up, hoping to see the stained glass window she knew she be near the attic, but there was only a balcony.

“I don’t think this is the future,” she muttered to herself, making her way back inside. “And it certainly isn’t the past. Tikki, I miss you. And I’m sorry. I’m so sorry I didn’t listen.”

Even as she said the words, she wasn’t sure if she meant them. She was sorry she’d lost Tikki and Plagg, incredibly sorry, and she knew once she gave herself the time, she would grieve as much as she’d grieved Adrien’s death, but...

But maybe she wasn’t entirely sorry that she was here. The world seemed pleasant enough compared to the constant nightmare she previously existed in and Adrien was alive and well here, even if he wasn’t exactly the Adrien she knew and loved.

She jumped at the sound of footsteps behind her and spun, falling into a defensive stance. Adrien held up two hands, half a smile gracing his lips.

“It’s just me,” he said softly. “I’ve been listening to you move around the house and I couldn’t sleep so I thought I’d join you.”

She tried to calm her racing heart as she dropped her arms. “I didn’t mean to keep you up.”

He shrugged and looked past her. “Did you find him?”

“Find who?”

“Hawk Moth.”

“So you do know.” Marinette chewed on her bottom lip, a bad habit her Adrien called her out on multiple times. “I suspected from your earlier comment but I wasn’t sure.”

“It’s still kinda new news,” he admitted. “I was trying to deal with it when everything...” He trailed off and got a faraway look in his eyes before he seemed to come to himself again. “So did you find anything?”

She shook her head. “Nope. As far as I can tell, Gabriel was never Hawk Moth here. Or if he was or is, it’s really different from what I knew.”

Adrien nodded. “Okay,” he replied with no other comment on the matter.

“The house seems to be running on a limited power supply. Most lights don’t work and there’s no water, but the security gate still functioned and the was a breaker outside the kitchen that I could fiddle with to see if we can get some juice without drawing attention.”

“You know how to do that kinda thing?”

“We learned together,” she answered, voice sad. “My Adrien and I did, anyway. It kinda of became the way to survive after a while.”

He looked at her, eyes searching. “The place you came from was really bad, wasn’t it? None of this really seems to be phasing you.”

Marinette felt her chest tighten. “I’ve just gotten good at adapting quickly to survive, that’s all.” She cleared her throat. “We should probably get some rest. There’s still lots to talk about and figure out tomorrow.”

“Right,” he nodded, taking a step back. “I,uh, I’ll see you tomorrow then.”


	7. Chapter 7

Marinette entered the sunlit kitchen with a yawn. “I should’ve known you’d already be up. You’ve always been an early riser.” Her mouth puckered as soon as the words left her lips. “I mean, um, my Adrien--”

“I’ve always been an early riser too,” Adrien supplied quickly with a gentle smile. “Guess that’s something we have in common.” He was sitting on a dusty stool by an equally dusty granite counter. “The food situation here is not good obviously.” He forced a laugh. “But we may have run into a little bit of luck because I was looking in some of the books that got left behind when I couldn’t sleep last night and found a bit of money either being hidden or used as a bookmark. Either way...”

“Good for us,” she agreed as her stomach growled.

He stood and stretched. “Want to go get something to eat and try to feel out the city? From what I saw yesterday, it looks a lot like my Paris.”

“Yeah, it is probably like mine was too before it was destroyed.”

Adrien swallowed hard. “Can we talk about that at some point?”

“If we can talk about what happened to your Marinette, sure.” She moved past him without a backwards look and Adrien let out a low exhale before following her.  
___

“Did you ever have Catalyst?” Marinette asked before tearing off another chunk of the fresh baguette.

“You mean when Nathalie was akumatized and was able to bring out all the previous akumas?” Adrien’s face screwed up in disgust. “Yeah, definitely had that.”

“Well, I’m guessing yours went better,” she sighed. “The akumas started to-- I don’t know the right way to explain it-- corrupt after a while. Every time I cleansed someone, they would be akumatized again within days and it seemed like every time was worse and worse until the person was just kinda gone.” She dropped her bread back on the wrapper, appetite waning. “They looked like our family and friends but they weren’t them anymore, they weren’t even the akumatized versions anymore...they were just monsters.”

“What happened?” he asked, voice hushed and fearful.

“In general or to my Adrien?” She finally met his eyes and knew the tears glistening in his matched the ones in hers.

“Whatever you want to tell me.”

“We lasted fighting, just the two of us, for a long time. I’m not really sure how long because time kinda stopped having any meaning, you know? We tried to keep track but my timing could be off by a year or so. Paris was quarantined, cut off from the rest of the world. We stopped getting help and any survivors that could get out were long gone. I think the world just wanted to pretend we weren’t there anymore.”

She picked at the bread to distract herself from the story she was telling. “We decided we were married at one point.” She smiled and looked down at her rings. “We went to what was left of Notre Dame and gave each other rings we looted from an abandoned jewelry store and recited vows. It was the best day we ever had.”

“And then one day, we just...weren’t fast enough.” Her voice broke on the last word and she ducked her head. “He sacrificed himself so I could get out and I hate him for it.” She sniffed and looked into the younger face of the man she loved. “He always did stupid stuff like that.”

“You sound like my Marinette when you say that kind of thing.” Adrien wiped at his eyes. “I lost her in the stupidest way. It’s my fault; I know it is. I wasn’t where I should’ve been and suddenly she was just gone.”

“I doubt she would’ve wanted you there if it meant you being gone.”

He shook his head. “Doesn’t change anything.”

“No, I guess it doesn’t.”


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I went missing for a bit. Going to try to catch up again. :)

“I wonder if I can claim this house,” Adrien said, staring up at shadows the candles were casting on the library ceiling. “Probably not, huh? Unless I can get forged documents or something. You think anyone would believe I’m my dad with, like, Botox?” He flipped onto his stomach. “Is that something you know how to do?”

“Forged documents or Botox?”

“Either, though I don’t think I actually need the Botox.” He pressed the pad of his finger against the edge of his eye.

Marinette smiled and shook her head. “There wasn’t much need for that kind of thing where I’m from. It was more ‘what can I make into a weapon’ and ‘how do we survive the night?’.”

“Oh.” He dipped his hand into the open bag on the floor and pulled out a potato crisp. “It probably wasn’t the smartest idea to spend the little money we had on junk food, but man, it’s making me really happy.”

She watched him smile as he took a bite out of the chip and felt her chest tighten. “Hey, so, I’ve been meaning to ask...how old are you anyway?”

He grinned at her. “How old do you want me to be, Princess?”

“What?”

“Not something I called you?”

“You aren’t my Adrien,” she reminded him. “And I’m not your Marinette. We aren’t going to have the same pet names for each other.”

His smile vanished. “Right. I know.”

“Sorry.”

“Nothing to be sorry for; it’s the truth.”

An awkward silence settled between them and Marinette cleared her throat. “So, uh, your age?”

“Just turned twenty-six. What about you?”

“Way too old for you.”

“What? No, you aren’t.”

“Oh, yes, I am.” She stood and brushed away the crumbs from the cinnamon coffee cake she’d been eating earlier. “I think I’m going to get some sleep. Are you sure you don’t want the bed? This is closer to your house than mine, after all.”

Adrien sat up. “I’m fine in here, but tell me how old you are. You can’t be that much older than me.”

“But you do know I’m older.” She gave him a knowing smile. “Must not be hiding it that well.” 

“Oh, come on! That’s not what I meant,” he called as she walked out the door. “Marinette! Come back. Don’t be mad!”

Marinette couldn’t help but smile to herself the whole walk to her temporary room.


	9. Chapter 9

Marinette breathed in the refreshing air of a lively and bustling city and smiled to herself. She’d told Adrien she was going out for a bit and left before he had a chance to follow her. As much as she’d enjoyed spending time with him, she knew the window for being able to make a life apart from his was rapidly closing and if she wanted to survive on her own in this new place, she needed to start making a move now. 

It wasn’t that she necessarily wanted to leave his side; she needed to. It would be too easy to fall into a routine with him. It was already painfully easy to smile and laugh and share meals. They explored the house together and read up on current events at the public library together and learned what they could about their new home together.

But they couldn’t stay together.

It was just wrong.

Wasn’t it?

They didn’t really know each other. They had each fallen in love with different versions of themselves and to try to pretend like they could just be those people for each other was...

Work. She needed to concentrate on finding work. She could make money and then get herself a small little place and be content to live out the rest of her life. It’s what her Adrien would’ve wanted for her, a happy, quiet life.

Besides, while a nine-year age gap wasn’t all that crazy as adults, it still felt big. Also factoring in her life experience compared to his, he may as well be a teenager.

Maybe that wasn’t fair though. He’d been Chat Noir just like her Adrien. He’d gone through triumphs and failures and wins and losses. And that was something they’d both been very careful not to talk about. The loss of the Miraculous, of Tikki and Plagg. It was too much on top of everything else but it would all come out at some point.

Bottled up emotions always did.

Marinette sighed when she found herself if front of a familiar bakery. There just had to be a ‘Help Wanted’ sign in the window.   
___

Adrien had picked up the very obvious vibe that Marinette wanted some time to herself so he stifled his instinct to follow her out the door and instead spent the afternoon roaming the abandoned Agreste house.

It was a lot like the home he grew up in, save for a few decor changes. There was also the fact that a library was in the place where his room should be. It made him wonder if his parents had other children or if they’d just stayed a couple.

Had his mother still fallen ill? Was she out there somewhere? How and why did they lose the house? Could he find her?

He felt too guilty thinking about Gabriel’s fate so he tried not to dwell on it. Even knowing that his father was Hawk Moth, he had a hard time coping with the fact. It was easier to bury it under everything else at the moment.

If he was being realistic, he had to come to terms with the issue that he couldn’t stay here indefinitely. At some point, someone would buy the house or bulldoze the house or set the house on fire, for all he knew. He wondered if Marinette had thought about where they would go.

Or if she even wanted to go somewhere with him.

He could feel that she was keeping him at arm’s length. It felt like the early days when he was in love with Ladybug and had no idea who was behind the mask. There was a wall between them, but unlike before, he couldn’t decide if he should actually try to break it down.

This Marinette was right when she said she wasn’t his. He could see the differences. He could also see that this Marinette had gone through a lot he and his Marinette hadn’t. She always looked a little sad, even when she smiled.

He wanted to make that sadness go away, but he wasn’t sure that he could.


	10. Chapter 10

Marinette knows this Adrien isn’t hers. She knows that. But she also knows the face this different Adrien is making and recognizes it means he’s fallen deep into his thoughts, something her Adrien tried not to let himself do because the outcome was rarely happy. 

He hadn’t noticed her in the doorway of the library he’d turned into his room yet. She could probably sneak off to her own room and rinse away the bakery smell from her hair and skin with a cold shower. She didn’t owe him anything, not really.

They were just two people who got thrown into a situation together because they both made the same choice.

She shifted her weight anxiously and finally knocked on the door frame. “Hey, you okay?”

Adrien blinked a few times as if he was having trouble putting her in focus. He scrubbed at his puffy eyes and nodded. “Yeah, uh, sorry. Was just spacing out.” He pasted on a smile she could tell wasn’t genuine. “How was work?”

“Busy but good.” She ventured further into the room and perched on the edge of the desk she’d come to consider her spot in his room. “Did you have any luck finding a job?”

“Uh, yeah, actually.” He scrubbed at his face again and turned away from her. 

She heard a telltale sniffle but didn’t call it out for the time being. 

“It’s not much but it’ll be good until I can maybe find something more substantial.” Adrien finally turned back to her, eyes a little red but his smile in place. “Food pick up and delivery.”

“Don’t you need a car?”

“I found an old bike in the gardening shed. I used to be pretty fast so maybe it’ll work out. Worth trying anyway.”

“Sure.” Marinette fiddled with the strings of the bakery apron in her lap. It really needed to be washed tonight so it might be taking the trip to the shower with her. She definitely wasn’t up to going to the laundry mat. “So, you wanna talk about it?” She attempted to keep her voice even. “Not the job, but...”

“Just thinking about what a selfish idiot I am,” Adrien sighed, running his hand into his hair.

“Why’s that?”

“I just made my wish. I didn’t even tell anyone I was doing it. Everyone we know suddenly lost both of us and I can’t believe I did that to them.” He groaned and dropped his face into his hands. “And it’s taken me weeks to even realize. I’m an ass.” 

“To be fair, you thought you were bringing your Marinette back, didn’t you?” she asked gently. “It’s not like you planned to leave.”

“I guess, but does it really matter? I would have done anything and gone anywhere to get her back.” Adrien slouched back against the couch looking much older than he was. “And did I destroy Plagg and Tikki? Are they somehow still back at home? Are they safe? She always got onto me for not using my head and now I’m...” He rubbed at the slick scar tissue on his finger and then reached up to his scarred earlobe. “I feel a little lost without her.”

“Yeah.” She gave him a sad smile. “I wish I had something encouraging to say, but I...” She pushed herself off the desk, feeling the sudden urge to put distance between them. “I think I’m going to take a quick shower and call it a night. See you in the morning.”

“You off tomorrow?” Adrien asked, hope showing in his eyes.

“Yeah, I should be.”

“I’ll see you then.”

Marinette didn’t respond as she left his room. Her every instinct was screaming for her to go back and comfort him but she was terrified to. She locked herself in her room and it wasn’t until halfway through her shower that she realized she was crying.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Eeesh, I'm so behind but I'm going to keep on trucking! :)
> 
> Thanks so much for all the kind comments on this story. Don't worry; happiness is just around the corner.

“Is everything okay, man?” the familiar but different voice asked, kind laughter in the tone. “You spacing out one me?”

Adrien blinked and tried to speak but the words wouldn’t come so he numbly nodded and busied himself with pulling the delivery food from bags. 

The grown man standing on the other side of the door was Nino Lahiffe. A Nino who was older and taller and broader. A Nino with laugh lines and crows feet and more gray in his hair than dark. A Nino with salt and pepper-colored stubble along his jawline and a young girl wrapped around his leg.

“Oh geez, do you know if they put in the extra garlic sauce we ordered? My wife will kill me if it’s not in here.”

“I, um...” Adrien swallowed against the lump in his throat and rooted through the toted bag on his arm. “Sorry. This is only my second day. Do you want me to go back for it?”

“Nah, don’t worry about it. She’s pregnant and it’ll just give her indigestion anyway.” Nino waved a hand and chuckled. “Don’t tell her I said that though. I plan on concocting a fantastic story as to why the extra garlic sauce isn’t here.” 

He reached into his pants pocket, shaking his leg a little so the girl sitting on his shoe giggled, and produced his wallet. He pulled out a couple of bills and offered them to Adrien. “I tipped you with the card but you look like you could use a little extra today.”

“Oh, I can’t--”

“Sure you can.” Nino shrugged and gave him a painfully nostalgic smile as he stepped back, dragging his grinning daughter with him. “Thanks again.”

Adrien stared at the door after it closed for a long moment. He wasn’t sure what to feel. This Nino seemed happy and still as kind as the one Adrien knew. He wondered if the pregnant wife was Alya or someone he knew or if that was too much to hope for.

His phone going off to let him know he had another pick-up spurred him from his thoughts and he finally left Nino’s door.  
___

“Do you allow people to hang up posters in here?”

Marinette stared at the miniature version of Jagged Stone standing across the bakery counter from her and could hardly believe her eyes. “What kind of posters?” she finally asked.

The teenager look thrilled at her interest and lifted a loudly printed concert announcement. “My band is playing a killer show next weekend and I wanna get the word out, right?” Metallic braces shone from his toothy smile. “Gonna be a big rock star. You wanna come, babe?”

“First of all, I might be old enough to be your mom, so not a babe to you,” she corrected, feeling almost giddy with the absurdity of the situation. “And second, I only work here so I’m not sure if posters are allowed or not.” She held out her hand. “But if you want to leave it with me, I promise I’ll try to sweet talk the manager into it.”

“Killer! Here, take two so you have one for home.” He gleefully separated two sheets from his stack and gave them to her, his many chain bracelets rattling around his thin wrist. “This is gonna be worth big money some day.”

“No doubt.”  
___

“Every time I think I might be okay here, this place throws me a curve ball.” Adrien sunk down to the kitchen floor while Marinette worked at the stove.

“I know exactly what you mean. Bad day?”

“Not bad. Weird, for sure.”

“You want onions in the sauce this time?” she asked, already moving for the cutting board. 

“Yes, please.”

“My day was weird too.” She paused to look down at him. “Like teenager Jagged Stone in braces coming into the bakery weird.”

“I delivered food to super grown-up Nino and his family for dinner,” Adrien answered back.

They both let the information sink in and Marinette shook her head. “This place is so, so weird.”


End file.
